Education

Poor attendance irks educators Poor summer school attendance has some Hobbs school leaders rethinking the school district’s policy allowing parents to override the grade retention of elementary students. School district superintendent TJ Parks told the school board Tuesday that summer school attendance has been very disappointing this year, with about 44 percent of high school students assigned to summer school …

Lovington sees big growth in math, reading The Lovington School District earned high ratings in the New Mexico Public Education Department’s recent reading and mathematics assessment report. Cabinet secretary Christopher N. Ruszkowski said in news conference Friday, “Lovington is the only district in the state of New Mexico in the top 20 largest that has made double-digit gains in reading …

Hobbs elementary students to be offered five library books this summer With an aroma of steak and baked potatoes, the Edison Elementary faculty and staff celebrated the end of the school year Wednesday. Edison principal Pat Duran, librarian Julie Rodriguez and Hobbs Superintendent TJ Parks sat next to each other while everyone enjoyed their hearty meals. Soon after, Rodriguez addressed …

NMJC approves pay raises, budget New Mexico Junior College Board members provided good news to staff, employees and president of the college at Thursday’s board meeting. In fiscal year 2019, staff members will receive a three percent pay increase and hourly employees a 25 cent an hour increase. The board also extended NMJC president Kelvin Sharp’s contract to June 30, …

Members of the New Mexico Junior College board approved an increase in tuition beginning with this year’s first summer session. The increase, $1 per credit hour for in-district and out-of-district residents of New Mexico and $5 per credit hour for out-of-state students, was approved without discussion or objection from the board. What the change means in terms of dollars is …

Lovington schools to be more secure after spring break LOVINGTON — A new security system will be in place when Lovington Municipal School students come back from spring break. Superintendent LeAnne Gandy reported to the school board last Tuesday that visitors at each of the schools will soon be subject to a background check before they are permitted to enter …

Lea County schools top state graduation rate According to the New Mexico Public Education Department, each of Lea County’s school districts dramatically has a higher graduation rate than the state average. In Hobbs, the graduation rate is 86 percent. In Lovington, it’s 85.6 percent. In Eunice, it’s 84 percent. The two smallest school districts show a larger grad rate, Jal …

The path to growing up isn’t perfect; just ask Broadmoor’s principal Galinda Everhart took a detour to success. And although the Broadmoor Elementary School principal isn’t particularly proud of the fact she dropped out of school to marry at 15, she isn’t embarrassed either. “My life is an open book to my students,” Everhart said while sitting in her office …